Disability News: United States and The Americas

Author: Disabled World (DW)
Updated/Revised Date: 2025/03/18

Contents: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Publications - Subtopics

Synopsis: Disability news and information for the USA and surrounding Americas, includes updates on U.S. disabilities such as facts, statistics, rules, and laws.

The U.S. Social Security Administration estimates that 3 in 10 of today's 20-year-olds will suffer a disability before reaching 67 and also reports 69% of the private sector work force has no long-term disability insurance.

Introduction

Today an estimated 39,395,000 people in the United States had a disability, or 14.8% of the population age 5 and over. The number of U.S. adults reporting a disability increased by 3.4 million between 1999 and 2005. 12.1% of the U.S. Adult Population Aged 21-64 Years Reported a Disability in 2008.

Main Content

In addition, an estimated 7,092,000 people, or 2.7% of the U.S. population 5 and over, have difficulty performing self-care activities, also known as Activities of Daily Living, such as dressing, bathing, or getting around inside the home.

The Social Security Administration estimates that 3 in 10 of today's 20-year-olds will suffer a disability before reaching 67 and also reports 69% of the private sector work force has no long-term disability insurance. Essentially, 7 out of 10 workers would have to rely on their own personal savings, limited state-run insurance or Social Security for replacement income in the event they could not work because of a disability.

U.S. Disability Statistics

• U.S. Disability Statistics by State, County, City, and Age
• Number of Americans with Disability by Age and Type
• U.S. Life Expectancy Statistics Chart by States
• Disability in America Infographic

Disabled U.S. Veterans

In the year 2008, an estimated 16.9 percent (plus or minus 0.20 percentage points) of non-institutionalized civilian veterans aged 21 to 64 years reported having a VA service-connected disability in the United States. In other words, 2,217,000 out of 13,102,700 non-institutionalized civilian veterans aged 21 to 64 years reported having a VA service-connected disability in the United States in 2008 (U.S. Veteran Facts and Statistics).

• See our Veteran News: Information and Assistance Programs - which provides health and disability news for veterans from around the world.
• Also see: Disability Information and Statistics for Central America and Mexico - Disability information and statistics for Mexico and the seven countries that make up Central America.